Head and neck cancers associated with exposure to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks Journal Article


Authors: Leeman, J. E.; McBride, S. M.; Spielsinger, D.; Sherman, E. J.; Wong, R.; Riaz, N.; Lee, N. Y.; Tsai, C. J.
Article Title: Head and neck cancers associated with exposure to the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks
Abstract: Exposure at the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist collapse site on September 11, 2001 has been associated with increased cancer risk, though observational studies have identified very few cases of head and neck cancer (HNC) in exposed individuals. Eighty seven patients were identified who presented to our institution with HNC diagnosed from 2002 to 2017 who reported WTC exposure. The annual number and proportion of WTC-exposed HNC patients has been steadily increasing since 2002, with most cancers developing >10 years following the event. Furthermore, WTC-exposed patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive OPC experienced significantly inferior outcomes compared with non-WTC exposed patients with HPV+ OPC (disease free survival 80.1% vs. 65.6% at 4 years, p = 0.04). This single institution study cannot establish evidence of exposure-mediated causation but higher recurrence rates in the WTC-exposed HPV+ OPC population suggest a treatment refractory tumor biology and possible exposure synergism with HPV-mediated oncogenesis. © 2018 UICC
Keywords: radiotherapy; head and neck cancer; hpv; world trade center
Journal Title: International Journal of Cancer
Volume: 142
Issue: 12
ISSN: 0020-7136
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons  
Date Published: 2018-06-15
Start Page: 2485
End Page: 2490
Language: English
DOI: 10.1002/ijc.31277
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC5908749
PUBMED: 29368332
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 1 May 2018 -- Source: Scopus
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  1. Eric J Sherman
    341 Sherman
  2. Nadeem Riaz
    417 Riaz
  3. Nancy Y. Lee
    876 Lee
  4. Richard J Wong
    415 Wong
  5. Sean Matthew McBride
    295 McBride
  6. Jonathan Eric Leeman
    78 Leeman
  7. Chiaojung Jillian   Tsai
    239 Tsai